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House of Night Movie Rights

Producers Michael Birnbaum and Jeremiah Chechik have used their own coin to option screen rights to the "House of Night," a series of nine young adult novels by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.The series, published by St. Martin's Griffin, just reached its fourth installment with the recently released "Untamed."

"House of Night" takes the vampire myth in a "Harry Potter"-esque direction. In the series, "vampyres" are accepted in society; they possess a genetic anomaly that manifests itself in some people at puberty. Vampyres are "marked" and sent to the House of Night, a school that offers training necessary to become an adult vampyre.

Protag is Zoey Redbird, whose ordinary life is thrown into disarray when she becomes a vampyre and must change schools and enter a brand new world.

"P.C. and Kristin Cast created a thrilling world that juxtaposes teen drama with supernatural suspense, using the transition from human to vampire as a metaphor for the transition from adolescence to adulthood," Birnbaum said.

Birnbaum produced "John Tucker Must Die" and is developing "Art Con" with Michael Douglas and Chechik; Chechik's directing credits include "Benny and Joon," and he most recently helmed and produced ESPN series "The Bronx Is Burning."

PC's Blog wrote:

OKAY, I'm going to respond to the constant movie/TV questions that I get asked by roughly a zillion of you. Here we go...

Q: Are the books being made into a movie/tv series?

A: Maybe. The series has been optioned by Empire Pictures. Now I sit back and wait like the rest of y'all to see what happens. No, I don't have any new news. I'll post when I have something I can tell you.

Q: Are you making the books into a movie/TV series?

A: NO. Authors don't do that. We option the right to production companies or movie studios to use our books/worlds as a basis for movies or TV shows. So, no, Kristin and I aren't making movies. We've given our lovely producer the right to, and that's about where our involvement ends.

Q: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't make them into movies! It just ruins everything and destroys the minds of the young.

A: Too late. We've already optioned them (see above for definition). And Kristin and I don't think movies/TV destroy the minds of the young. We think laziness and a sense of entitlement do that. Oh, and drugs, too. We happen to like movies and TV. A lot.

Q: Well, then, make them make a really really good movie/TV series. Okay?

A: I can't MAKE my producer do anything, although he is quite nice and I heart him. (His name is Michael Birnbaum if you'd like to google him and send him the zillions of emails about making the series into a movie that you send me - he can actually do something about it.) I'm not going to be involved with the screenplay. That's not my field of expertise. I write the books. Period. Michael does respect my opinion, and we talk frequently. That's about as much influence as I have. Oh, and his teenage daughter, Savannah, hearts the House of Night. I'm counting on her to keep her dad straight. ("Hi Savvy!")

Q: I'm perfect to play Zoey/Aphrodite/Stevie Rae/Damien/Erik/either Twin/Duchess/Nala/Neferet, etc., etc., so could you pick me to be in the movie/TV series? Could I audition for you?

A: As with the screenplay, I'm not going to have anything to do with casting any production. I don't know squat about actors/actresses! Hell, I'd pick Kristin to be Zoey and Tom Welling to be Erik (he's too old, by the by, and so is Kristin). And I'd pick myself to be Neferet (I don't look anything like Neferet). Or maybe I'd be Aphrodite (uh, I'm wayyyyyy too old to be Aphrodite). See what I mean? I'm not good at picking actors, so AGAIN I leave that to the experts. If the series actually begins to film and IF they have open auditions, I'm sure Michael will tell me and I'll post the information for all of you.

Q: But what about the videos you send out? Are those the actors for the movie? And I hate/love them and think they look perfect/too old!

A: The videos from the www.houseofnightseries.com site are book trailers and ONLY book trailers. They were produced by my fabulous publisher as fun extras and teasers for my fans. They have nothing to do with any movie/tv series. And for the record: I helped choose the models. NO I DO NOT THINK THEY LOOK TOO OLD. If I did, I wouldn't have chosen them. Also, I can't put you in contact with the models. Yes, the model who plays Zoey is the same lovely girl, whose real name is Tara, who portrays Zoey on all the book covers. I think she's wonderful.

And while we're on the subject - I like the tattoos from the videos. Are they the exact tattoos I see in my mind as I write the books? Hell, no. How could anyone reproduce that? I suppose I could, but I can't draw at all. I enjoy seeing different interpretations of my world. It's all done in a wonderful spirit of fun, and I heart that!

Sooooooo, basically I don't have any new news about the series coming to film. Yes, it's optioned. Yes, it could happen. No, I won't be doing it because authors write books - they don't make films (or at least not usually). I'm waiting with the rest of you to see what happens.

And, please, spare me the diatribes about film ruining books. I don't buy into it and don't care to hear/read it. Kristin and I are happy about the possibility. If we weren't we wouldn't have signed the contract. No one made us; we wanted to. Some of my very, very favorite movies are based on books: Lord of the Rings, Dances with Wolves, Gone with the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, Secret Life of Bees, Harry Potter (yes! I heart all of them!), etc., etc. No, I'm not scared about HoN coming to film IF IT EVER HAPPENS. Relax. Let's just go along for the ride. If it sucks we can have a good laugh and eat that yummy popcorn with way too much butter...